The 64-year-old head coach of Duke's basketball team on his career, the LeBron decision, and what he talks about at the dinner table

My father never missed a day of work. He was an elevator operator. My brother never missed a day of work for thirty-seven years as a firefighter in Chicago. In our family, work gave you dignity.

We're lucky we get people coming over to this country who are trying to get established and still believe in the dignity of work.

Give me the truth, okay? Don't sugarcoat it. Don't give me a half-truth. That's why I loved being a West Point cadet. You knew that when someone told you something, that's the truth.

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The most difficult thing about being a cadet is failure. You go in as a golden boy. You're an all-state basketball player, a good student, and you've done things you're good at all your life. Suddenly you're thrust into a multitude of situations where you fail. I didn't know how to swim. I didn't know how to do gymnastics. I'd never been a Boy Scout, never put up a tent. I was boxing with guys who were my height but forty pounds heavier. They used my big nose as a target. So you were broken down and built back up.

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I'd never seen passion at that level until I met Coach Knight. Or that kind of preparation.

When I got the job at Duke, I called my wife. She was very happy. Then, after a while, it occurred to her to ask about the salary. Talk about being naive and innocent, or stupid. I'd never even asked how much I was going to make.

Growing up, I was around all guys. At our dinner table, when my girls were growing up, we never talked about basketball. In fact, I never had a chance to talk. Here I was, this hotshot coach. The girls made you humble right away.

When you get to the end of a game, as many ways as you think you can try to win, there are countless more ways that you're trying to avoid losing.

I'm not going to say that if we're not 28-7, then I'm no longer going to coach. I'd know by how I approach every game. Do I have the passion to prepare? To compete? The desire to win? If one of those three things is missing, then I'll know it. I'll know it before anybody else knows it.

How can going to Miami to play for the Arison family and to be with Dwyane Wade be bad? I don't think it was a bad decision. How it was carried out? I wish I could have changed some of that for LeBron. He's a good friend, and one of my guys.

It's probably harder to admit mistakes when you're 11-17 than when you're 32-4.

I'm not sure Jimmy V was extraordinary his whole life. But in the darkest moment for most people, he was at his best — and that's extraordinary. He thought beyond death.

Times Square can be crazy. That's the way the end of a basketball game can be — like you're driving through Times Square. My goal at the end of the game is not to have it crazy. I want it clean.